Everything Ends With Nny
by ragdolljazz
Summary: A new arrival at the Casil household has Johnny acting... Neighbourly, Squee jumpier than ever, and Shmee wishing he could strangle her. OC present, but no official pairing -INDEFINITE HIATUS-
1. Everyday Combat

(**A/N**

Sorry if Johnny or Squee seem OOC... Especially Johnny ^^; He's fickle

Oh, and I don't know if the title will make sense to people... It's kinda my inside joke with myself ^^; )

"_**Aarrrrrrrrrrrrg!**_"

Johnny smiled to himself as the doorbell rung, taking pleasure in the fact that even though he was seventeen floors below the poor man trapped on one of the basement levels and attached to the doorbell, he could still hear him clearly.

"_**Aarrrrrrrrrrrrg!**_"

It came again, leaving Johnny wondering if he should maybe answer the door. _But... If I leave, I might miss all the fun_. He looked over at the man doing a handstand in the center of the room; the only thing keeping him from the twenty-odd rabid beavers was a thin cardboard box, currently balanced on his feet.

"_**Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!**_"

This time it seemed the person was simply leaning on the doorbell, waiting for somebody to drag themselves up to the front door and open it with a hearty wave perhaps.

"I'm not going to wave." Johnny muttered to himself, before begrudgingly leaving the room, slamming the door behind him. He scowled deeply as he heard a thud and multiple squeals and screams intermingling. He missed all the fun.

As he reached the basement level where the man was attached to the doorbell should have been he gradually came to realise that the man had stopped screaming.

_Damn it all, not only did they make me miss the beavers, but they killed __**him**__ too_. He peered in to the room and saw the man chained to the wall, hanging limp and lifeless.

"Ah well, at least you felt the last moments of your existence as your life slipped away. It's preferable to going peacefully, is it not?" he asked, tilting his head to the side and addressing the dead body.

When no reply came, he sighed and shook his head sadly.

"So rude." He muttered, climbing up the last few flights of steps before reaching the front door in a few long strides. He flung open the door right as the person was about to slam their fist on the door with as much force as they could muster. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be able to stop their fist, and so it collided painfully with Johnny's chest, knocking him to the ground with a clearly audible thump.

"Oh my gosh!" came a loud squeak, the person (a girl, as Johnny realised as he looked up at her) bending down to try and help him up. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to do that!"

Johnny swiped her hand away, jumping to his feet with an unnatural grace. He cocked his head to the side and frowned.

"You killed my doorbell."

"Oh, I did?" she asked, sounding surprised. "I promise I'll replace it!"

"Oh I already know you will." Johnny grinned, grabbing two swords from his boots and pointing them at her throat quickly. "The only question is whether you'll come willingly."

This time she was the one who fell over, her chest heaving with fear and her eyes filling with tears.

"Wh- What is this?" she almost screamed, her dark hair falling entirely over her left eye. She left it there for once, too afraid of the maniac who was now towering above her to even think of moving.

"This is what you deserve." He hissed.

His words seemed to have some effect on the girl however, as she suddenly threw herself at his feet and started babbling nonsense.

"Scary Neighbour Man?" came a small voice from the street, distracting both people in the doorway from their current activities, namely begging for your life or trying to extract your feet from a snivelling heap of what was little more than jelly at this point.

"Todd!" the girl cried out joyously, jumping up and scooping the small boy up into her arms. He seemed just as confused as the maniac was as to whom it was who just grabbed him.

"Squee!" he squeaked, trying to worm away from the girl, who- to him- was rather insane.

"Oh right, we haven't been introduced!" she grinned sheepishly, putting him back on the pavement. "I'm Bethany, but you can call me Nny."

"HEY!"

Bethany spun around to see that the man at the door had moved ever so much closer to them, and he was waving his swords around in a dangerous fashion. Instinctively she grabbed Todd and brought him closer to her, curving her body slightly as if to shield him.

"You can't be called Nny! That's _my_ name!"

"Oh, is it?" she asked, sounding faintly surprised. "My friends only call me that because they figured I'd be the only one out there."

She looked at him, wondering if he'd say anything, but instead he just glared at her, a nerve twitching in his cheek.

"But anyway, if your name is Nny, you should keep it, you were here before I was anyway..." she continued awkwardly. "It's... N-nice to meet another Nny..."

She stumbled over the word 'nice', her eyes flitting towards the swords that were now hanging limply at his sides before looking back into his eyes. _Rather nice eyes they are too..._ _NO! Bad Nny- I mean, Bethany- BAD! He just tried to KILL you!_

He just glared at her and spun on his heel, stomping back off into the house, throwing her one last look of pure hatred before slamming the door shut.

But in all actuality she hadn't even really been paying much attention to his glare, her eyes drawn to his gently swishing hips. She was still staring at the place they had been before the door slammed shut when a tug on her pants leg brought her attention back to the boy at her side.

"M-miss Be-Bethany..." He stammered, obviously afraid to speak to her. Obvious because the poor dear was shaking like a leaf.

"Yeah Hun?" she asked, kneeling down to his face level, trying to keep as much eye contact as possible. She tried to remember what it was her instructor had told her about how to deal with frightened children. _Something about hand gestures...Use a lot?_

"I-I was just wondering..." he squeaked, his voice high, yet barely above a whisper. "H-how you know who I am."

"Oh, well, I thought your father would have told you by now! I'm your new nanny!" she cried happily, waving her arms around with giant hand gestures, looking totally ridiculous by anyone's standards.

It was as he fainted when she remembered exactly what it was her instructor told her about scared children.

"_**Now sweethearts, don't forget, scared children are like wild animals. So **__**please**__** remember to keep hand gestures to an absolute minimum..."**_

_Crap. This might be harder than I thought..._

TBC :)

Please tell me what you think, I'm new here ^^;


	2. I Can't Be Your Friend

(**A/N**

Just needed transition chapter XD And apparently Shmee hates Bethany :3)

"So"

"So"

"Doo doo de doo..."

Bethany sat alone with both of Todd's parents, clutching a cup of coffee for dear life. _Why can't I see his face? Oh __**God**__ why can't I see his face?_

"_You're _the Miss. Aberstrothit we hired?"

She winced as she heard her last name, but nodded all the same. She knew she wasn't what they had expected, she never was.

For one thing she was often considered too young to look after a child, but after looking after her sister's baby since she was fourteen, at age twenty-three she felt she was certainly ready to handle little Todd.

But also, most people gave her odd stares when they saw her walking around with a child. Thought she'd stolen it or something, due to the fact that 'Responsible Adults' don't have dark blue hair, or wear Capri's in mid-winter.

"And you're the same Miss. Aberstrothit who just caused our son to pass out from fear?"

Once again, she winced and nodded, staring deeply into her cup of coffee, feeling her face get hot all over as she thought of that particular incident. What were the chances that once she got her first proper job she'd make a kid pass out for the first time?

"You're hired... Again."

She jerked her head up, her whole body jerking with it, causing her to spill the coffee all over the table they were sitting at.

"What?" she shrieked, happy she still had her job, but shocked that making the same child she was told to look after pass out was cause for re-hiring... Even though she hadn't been fired yet. _Maybe this means they'll have to fire me __**twice**__ before I'm fully fired._ This thought made her smile, not yet skilled in the art of hiding her emotions like the others she had been in training with.

_Hell, some of the __**children**__ were better at hiding their emotions than I am._ She though bitterly, remembering the time she broke down on a child after just being dumped by a jerk who swore he had loved her before jumping on the next air-headed twig to waltz past. She almost failed the course that term, after the kid had to look after _her_...

"**Miss Aberstrothit!**"

"Huh?" she looked around wildly, not knowing that the man in front of her had been speaking this whole time. _How does he speak without a face? No! No thinking, pay __**attention**__!_

"... and of course, you will be living here, and you will be in charge of feeding, bathing- although I'm fairly certain he can do that by himself by now... Or maybe he'll drown..." Bethany was sickened to hear the hopeful tone in Todd's father's voice. "But anyway, Todd is now completely in your care. You may not have any contact with your previous friends, and any socialising at all is strictly prohibited."

"Wait, _WHAT_?" Bethany finally yelled, dropping her coffee on the table and standing up. "I have a _fiancé_, I can't not socialise with him! We're getting married in two months!"

"... Do you have a cell phone?" He asked after careful consideration.

"Uhhh... Yeah, course."

"May I see it?"

"Sure." She said, handing it over proudly. It was brand new, and had just come out earlier that month. Although the pride vanished and was replaced with apprehension as he flipped it open and pressed one of the buttons.

"You fiancé is named Adam, correct?"

"Y-yeah." She stammered, not knowing what was going to happen.

Todd's father put the phone to his ear and waited for a while, before speaking softly into the phone, trying to make it so Bethany couldn't hear it. But she was blessed (or cursed) with extraordinary hearing, and so she heard every word of the conversation, even on Adam's end.

"Hello? Is this Adam?"

"_Yeah, this is Adam. Who's asking?_" Bethany winced; by his tone she could tell that once again he was drunk. _At least he waited until I was out of the house..._

"Yeah, I'm sorry to tell you, but your fiancé was cheating on you. She no longer loves you, and has told me to tell you this. She'll be around to pick her stuff up soon. Good day."

She closed the phone and tossed it back to Bethany, who just barely caught it, too in shock as to what he had just done.

"Y-you..." she whispered, not actually knowing if she wanted to punch him or hug him. "How could you DO that?"

"Easy." He shrugged, and turned away. "Oh, and go pack your stuff, we'll give you the guest bedroom. Feel free to renovate, you're going to be there for a while."

She couldn't do anything but stare at his retreating back, not quite knowing what to do with herself. She really didn't want to go back and face an angry, drunk Adam, but she also didn't want to risk all her clothes being burnt to a crisp. A small humming noise from the table alerted her that while Todd's father had left, his mother still hadn't, although that wasn't saying much, as she had probably left her own head quite a while ago and decided not to come back.

As the kitchen was deathly quiet except for the impossibly loud clock on the wall, it wasn't hard for her to recognise the tune Mrs. Casil was humming to herself, obviously not knowing what effect it may have on the now fiancé-less girl.

_Wedding March... How fucking appropriate_.

And with that she promptly collapsed onto the floor and sobbed openly, just realising what she got herself into, and already beginning to resent the sweet little boy, who- unbeknownst to her- was silently watching her cry from the doorway into the kitchen.

_She's weak... Pathetic._

"Quiet Shmee, that's not nice." He whispered, shaking the teddy softly.

_It's true though. And she resents you; you ruined her life, along with your parents'. It would be best to kill her, to put her out of her misery._

"No Shmee, I'm not going to kill her." He scolded, before adding uncertainly, "Does she really not like me?"

_Course not. And look, nobody's here to see you do it either..._

Squee shook his head firmly, chastising the limp teddy in his arms. "No Shmee, it's not _nice_ to kill people."

His soft voice drifted over to where Bethany was lying on the floor feeling immensely sorry for herself. She sat up immediately, wiping her eyes and smiling at the little boy.

"Hey there Hun." She smiled softly, standing up and walking over to the boy. She wasn't super tall, but she was tall enough to pose an apparent threat to the tiny boy, and so he squee'd softly as she picked him up. "I have to go back to my house for a little while, so why don't you and your sweet little teddy bear go up to your room and play for a little while, 'kay?"

Todd looked back down at Shmee, who was lying on the floor abandoned after he had accidentally dropped him out of fear. It was probably just a trick of the light, but it seemed as if he was frowning up at the newest resident of the Casil household.

_I __**really**__ don't like this girl..._

TBC

Please review, I'd love to hear from everyone! :)


	3. Ordinary Life

(**A/N**

Okay, the reason he is only referred to as Nny so far, is cause she doesn't know his actual name...)

"Oh come on, get _off_!" Bethany cried angrily, scrubbing at her hands, trying to rinse the blood off. She couldn't remember if it was hers or his, but she was fairly certain neither of them was dead. Well, he wasn't when she left, although she almost died leaving.

_Who knew he even __**owned**__ a reading lamp?_ She thought bitterly back to when she had stormed out of their apartment, and had ducked only just in time to avoid having her head smashed in by a heavy brass reading lamp. _Why do I always get the jerks?_

She turned the water off angrily and dried her hands off on her pants, ignoring the fluffy white towel half a foot away. Remembering why she was here- to look after little Todd- she walked over to his room and tried to turn the doorknob.

It was locked. She frowned softly and placed her ear against the door, making out his frightened voice... And one other. Her heart beat faster as she tried the handle again, pushing hard against the door.

She tried to keep the panic out of her voice as she yelled his name through the door, knocking smartly on the door.

"Todd? Can you come open the door for me please? We need to discuss dinner."

There were some rushed murmurs that she couldn't make out and then a loud slam before Todd unlocked the door and stood nervously in the doorway.

"Dinner?"

"Who else was in here Hun?" Bethany asked, smiling down at him, her tone somewhat firm, telling him he had no choice but to answer.

"N-no one." He stammered, glancing nervously at the window. Bethany looked at him quickly, trying hard not to let him see how little she trusted him right now, and she brushed past him quickly to look out the window. A light turned on in the house next door, creating three rectangles of light on the otherwise dark street.

She turned away from the window at looked back at Todd, who was obviously hoping that she had bought it, and so, just to keep away the awkward silences that would surely follow, she pretended she did.

"So, dinner?"

***

Half an hour later she stood outside Nny's house, wondering whether or not she should knock. She and Todd had raided the kitchen looking for anything that might be possible for a young child to eat. After uncovering a couple of unappetisingly mushy potatoes, she managed to mush them just a little further into mashed potatoes, but that was about it in the way of food.

And so, despite Todd's begging, she found herself outside the house of the insane man who seemed to want to cause her bodily harm. And that was when they were strangers, she was afraid to think of what would happen if he got to know her; and so she had decided earlier that day to keep away from him, but that resolution was obviously broken into a thousand little pieces, seeing as she was going to ask this madman for food.

She knocked quickly but loudly, and then stopped to muse on how he might kill her.

_Hopefully with something cool... Maybe I'll be squashed by a giant waffle iron._

It was this thought that caused her to double up laughing and fall to her knees, clutching her stomach and tears forming in her eyes from laughing so hard, and eventually finding herself face to face with Nny's boots for the second time that day.

"Yes, yes, admire my boots." He drawled, dragging her attention up to his face. "But tell me why you are here or I shall have to kill you."

"Waffle Iron?" she giggled. She couldn't help it; the thought was just so weird that it wouldn't leave her head.

"What?"

"Sorry." She said, standing up and shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "I was just wondering if you had any food."

"Are you... begging?" he asked, tilting his hip to the side and raising an eyebrow.

"No!" she blushed, wondering why she thought he might help her. "It's just, I can't find anything for Todd to eat over at his house, so I was wondering if you had anything a child might be able to eat."

"Wouldn't he be able to eat the same thing as adults?" Nny asked, wondering why exactly she had specified the food she needed as 'child food'.

"Well I dunno if he'd be able to eat nothing but McMeaties for a month, but I can. So I don't think it'd be child-edible to go buy that, but it might be adult-edible."

Nny seemed to think about this for a moment, his usually crazy eyes surprisingly lucid. She was just beginning to think that maybe he would give them some food, before he suddenly slammed the door in her face.

She stood there dumbly before clenching her fists and storming off, glaring back at the house before quickly turning away, afraid he saw her and would come running out and kill her for it. She had just reached the gate in front of his house when she heard his voice calling her back.

"HEY! I thought you wanted some food!"

She glanced back and saw him standing in the doorway with a can of SpaghettiOs and... A waffle iron? She walked back up to him and took the grimy can from him, put it under her arm and grabbed the waffle iron with two hands. There was no way she'd be able to carry it with one. And even with two hands the weight of it almost caused her to drop everything, but she managed to keep a hold on everything at the last second, even though the can of SpaghettiOs was only held on to by the tip of her elbow, which was pressing the can painfully into her side. She knew she looked ridiculous, and was even surer of it when Nny leant against the door and smirked at her, as she tried to balance everything without letting go of anything.

Eventually he grew tired of her struggle and leant forward, pulling the can of SpaghettiOs away from her, and taking back the waffle iron. Bethany looked up at him sheepishly, rather embarrassed about how hard it was for her just to get a good hold on two objects.

He rolled his eyes and dumped the waffle iron onto her arms, so she held it like a tray, as opposed to by the handle as she did before. He dumped the can on top of the waffle iron and stared at her expectantly, wanting her to leave of her own accord.

"Thanks." She muttered, before turning away quickly. Too quickly it seemed, as the can of SpaghettiOs fell off as she span. It was all too much for one day; almost being killed, breaking up with her fiancé, moving in with a strange family, and now she couldn't even keep a can of SpaghettiOs balanced on a waffle iron. She collapsed onto her knees and started laughing; laying the waffle iron down on the ground next to her as loud, high pitched shrieks of laughter woke up all the dogs in the neighbourhood and caused them to start howling loudly. A car alarm went off suddenly and added to the noise, which was reaching an intolerable level.

Once the babies started crying and people started shouting about the noise Nny span around and stormed back into his house, wishing he had windows to muffle the noise, but instead he just jumped down the stairs to the basement three at a time until he reached the lowest level, where the only sounds that could be heard were muffled moans of some of his older victims.

Five minutes later Bethany was calmly stirring a pot of SpaghettiOs on the stove, having completely forgotten about her little laughing fit. She glanced inside the pot and wondered briefly if it would even go with the mashed potatoes from earlier, but it wasn't like she had much choice.

_I guess I'll have to go food shopping tomorrow._

"TODD!" she yelled up the stairs, waiting to hear the light pattering of tiny feet as he ran downstairs. Instead she just heard a soft voice from directly behind her.

"Why are you screaming up the stairs, miss?" Todd asked quietly, clutching Shmee to his chest.

"Oh, Todd!" She laughed as she turned around. "I thought you were still upstairs... But anyways, dinner's ready! Nny gave us a can of SpaghettiOs"

The little boy nodded but said nothing and allowed himself to be dragged to the table and poked at the food that was placed in front of him.

"It's not _poisoned_!" Bethany laughed, spooning up some of the SpaghettiOs but pausing just as it reached her lips. He _did_ try to kill her already... Would he try again? _But... He wouldn't hurt Todd probably, so it should be perfectly safe..._

She opened her mouth and put the spoon in, watched fearfully by Todd as she swallowed, her stomach tied in knots by fear. But she didn't seem to be dying, so she took another spoonful, and watched as Todd did the same. _It might be some sort of slow-acting pois- NO! SHUT UP BRAIN! SHUT __**UP**__! It's __**safe**__! _But there was still that one nagging thought at the back of her mind as she supervised Todd brush his teeth, ordered him to take a bath (she stood outside the door for that part), tucked him into bed with a kiss on the forehead, and read him a story about a squirrel until he fell asleep.

As she climbed into her own bed she couldn't help but mutter a quick prayer, hoping that she might still be alive in the morning.

TBC


	4. Never Alone

(**A/N**

Heh, sorry about this, but I needed filler... Also, Bethany is very easily amused. And if she doesn't know how to react to something she WILL laugh... Which is why she keeps laughing XD)

"Look, I'm sorry Todd, I know you're hungry but we can't eat until we've been shopping, because there's _nothing left_!" Bethany snapped, pushing the shopping trolley along even faster. She hadn't gotten any sleep last night, too afraid of death, and so when she finally decided it was a reasonable time to get up she was starving hungry.

She didn't do well with starvation.

"Squee!" the little boy squeaked, chasing after her, terrified of getting lost in the supermarket.

_Although that crabby whore isn't such a great trade off. You'll be fine on your own, just walk off and don't look back_.

"No Shmee!" he cried in exasperation, getting fairly tired of his never-ending stream of ideas to 'better' himself.

_Fine. But when she breaks that itty bitty heart of yours, don't say I didn't warn you..._

And he was silent. Feeling more alone than ever, Todd looked around and suddenly realised he was totally alone except for all the strangers around him.

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" he shrieked, clutching desperately at Shmee, suddenly afraid of everyone around you.

"Hello there little boy, are you lost?" asked a plump old man, leaning down and leering at Todd, who was instantly reminded of the mall fiasco.

"Squee..." he whispered, trembling like a leaf.

"Come on, I'll help you find you mommy." He said, straightening up and grabbing Todd roughly by the wrist.

"N-no, the Scary Neighbour Man w-will get you!" he choked out, trying to pull his wrist away from the man.

"Nonsense, I'll just take you somewhere your mother can find you."

"My mom's at home in bed." He whispered, burying his face into Shmee, thereby missing the old man's sudden grin.

"Perfect." He was about to pull him away into the back when there was a firm hand on his shoulder, nails digging in painfully.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Bethany asked, tightening her vice-like grip on the man's shoulder, hoping that if she squeezed tight enough she'd break the skin.

"I'm helping this boy find his mother. Now please let go of my shoulder before I call the police and have you arrested."

"This boy's mother is currently in bed doped up on pretty much all the drugs the pharmacy offers." She said coldly, not letting go of the man's arm. "I heard him tell you that. And if you try to call the police I'll tell them just what you were planning on doing with this little boy."

The man's face blanched, and he dropped Todd's wrist like it was a hot coal.

"I-I swear to God, I-I ju-just..."

"Save it." Bethany snapped, picking Todd up and holding him protectively. She grabbed the bags of groceries that she had just bought and stormed out of the store, just as police cars were beginning to draw up. She smiled happily, knowing that there was going to be one more filthy soul rotting in prison.

"Come on Todd, we're gonna have waffles for breakfast, how does that sound?" she smiled warmly down at the boy at her side.

"W-waffles sound good." He smiled back, dragging Shmee along the ground as he walked alongside the girl, holding her hand tightly.

_Oh how degrading..._

***

"WAFFLE TIME!" Bethany screeched excitedly as she plopped a waffle onto Todd's empty plate. She had never made waffles from scratch before, so she was anxious to know if they were good. She watched on nervously as Todd picked up his knife and fork and began to cut it into bite sized pieces.

"WAIT!" she yelled, running to the fridge. "What do you want on it? Maple syrup? Butter? Raspberries?" as she said each of these items she pulled them out of the now stuffed fridge, dropping both the butter and the maple syrup as she grabbed the raspberries.

"God _dammit_!" she hissed, picking both fallen objects up before glancing back up at Todd. "_Never_ say that to anyone... Or at least, don't tell them you heard it from me. I'd get so fired."

_Do it... Tell your parents and get rid of her!_

"I don't want to though Shmee." Todd whispered, not knowing that Bethany could hear him clearly. "I like her; she's nice and doesn't kill people."

_You don't know that for sure. Ask her, ask her and find out for sure._

"Fine, if it'll stop you saying she's a bad person Shmee." He sighed. He started talking in a louder voice, although the difference was rather hard to tell. "M-miss Bethany?"

"Please Todd, just call me Annie" she smiled, sitting herself down opposite Todd, bringing with her more waffles, an empty plate (for herself), the syrup, butter and the raspberries. She didn't mention that she had spent all of last night trying to think of a new nickname for herself, trying to distract herself from the 'slow-acting poison' in her system. She wrinkled her nose, not pleased with the nickname anymore. "Actually don't, just call me Bethany, okay?" she laughed, grabbing the syrup and squirting it all over her waffle.

"O-okay." He stammered, fidgeting with his waffle a little. "H-have you ever _k-killed_ anyone before?" he didn't mean it to, but the word 'killed' came out as a hushed whisper.

She blinked at him and tilted her head to the side before bursting out laughing.

"Oh- oh God!" She choked out, her head falling onto the table as her fist pounded on it. "Wha- what kind of question _is_ that?"

Eventually she fell off her chair, and rolled around a little on the ground, clutching her stomach as she laughed. She calmed down a little to answer his question seriously after about three minutes.

"N-no." She gasped, her stomach aching and her eyes watering from all the laughing. _And this is supposed to __**extend**__ your life? I'm sure I just exploded my liver... Or spleen... Oh hell, it could be my brain for all I know; damn biology_...

"So you've never killed anyone before?" Todd confirmed happily, almost bouncing in his seat. _He's so little for a nine year old..._

"Nope, not even bugs." She smiled proudly. "Well, a few fish over the years, and one rabbit, but after that I learnt that every animal I come in contact with dies, so I stopped getting those."

Todd nodded happily, glancing at Shmee with an 'I told you so' look. He stayed perfectly silent, too angry with Todd to speak. Bethany smiled at Todd who smiled heartily back, and she took the first bite of her waffle. She had no idea if it was the syrup or the waffle, but the thing tasted like an old sock, and she immediately ran to the bin, spitting it out and running back to the table to dump the rest of the waffles into the trash can.

"So, what kind of cereal do you like?"

TBC (very shortly, I have the next chapter written up ^^)


	5. I Did It For You

(**A/N**

Urgh, part of me hates writing Johnny cause he's really hard to get in character, but I also love to cause I luff him! But... Just pretend he's very lucid in this chapter :D Poor Shmee, left all alonesies...)

After shovelling their breakfast of sugar-coated marshmallow pieces ('MARSHY-BITS!' cereal) down their throats, Todd was sent back upstairs to brush his teeth as Bethany lounged around trying to think of what to do until noon.

She glanced quickly at the clock on the stove. _Eight thirty... What the hell can we do for three and a half hours?_

***

_I... am in Hell._

Bethany now sat outside on an uncomfortable wooden bench surrounded by chatty mothers, all watching their kids on the play structure.

_Who'd have thought that mothers could get so goddamn annoying?_

"And LOOK!" one of them cried, shoving a picture into Bethany's face. "Here's my little Stanley having his first ice cream!"

As her eyes scanned the crowd, she found 'little Stanley' and immediately tried to guess just how many more ice creams he'd had since that picture was taken.

_Couple hundred maybe?_ She smirked to herself and sunk down even lower on the bench, forcing a 'cute' out from between her lips before trying to tune them all out.

"So, which one's yours?" It was the same big-mouthed woman, poking Bethany annoyingly in the shoulder.

"I don't have one." She snapped, searching through her bag for a piece of paper and a pencil. Everyone was quiet for a while, wondering why she was here without a child. She glanced up quickly to see why everybody was silent and sighed heavily. "I'm looking after the little kid on the swings."

"Oh!" came the unanimous response, and they all smiled widely at her before turning back to their neighbours.

"There we go." She muttered, dragging a sketchbook and a pencil out of her bag and settling herself comfortably on the bench. She didn't notice when everybody crowded around her silently to watch what she was doing, too immersed in trying to capture Todd exactly how he was, sitting sadly alone on the swings, legs not long enough to reach the ground thereby keeping him totally motionless.

It was as she was putting the finishing touches on his hair that finally one of the mothers spoke.

"Can you do one of those for my baby Jessica?"

"Yeah! And for Tommy?"

"And my little Pooky!"

"We'll pay!"

She looked around nervously, suddenly feeling rather claustrophobic surrounded by all the grinning mothers shoving money in her face.

"I-I guess." She stuttered, sounding vaguely like little Todd. And so, for another three hours she found herself drawing pictures of dirty, snivelling, whiny children for slightly less dirty, snivelling, whiny parents.

As soon as she finished drawing Stanley eating another ice cream, she grabbed the money from all of them, packed her bag and ran to get Todd.

"Let's get out of here." She pleaded, grabbing onto his hand.

"Okay." He shrugged, hopping off the swing and letting go of the chain he had been holding onto tightly. Bethany noticed this and frowned softly.

"Todd... Where's Shmee?" she asked.

"Shmee?" he looked around quickly before turning back to Bethany with a small shrug. "I must've left him at home."

"Oh, okay then!" she grinned, leading Todd happily away from the park.

Neither of them knew that they were being watched by a pair of stitched eyes from the sand a few feet away from the swings.

_I will personally make sure that woman is destroyed._

Using every ounce of power in him, Shmee clenched his paws and imagined wrapping them around Bethany's neck. Right before he blacked out the vision of her choking to death made his little mouth smile, although it may just have been a trick of the light...

***

"NNY! NNY OPEN THE DOOR!"

Nny glanced up from the kitchen counter. He had just come back from getting a freezie and now there was someone at the door. Just great.

"What?" he snapped, flinging the door open, glaring at the person on his doorstep. He backed up quickly as the person flung themselves at him, openly sobbing.

"I lost him! I've lost Shmee and now Todd won't look at me! I've looked all over for him and I still can't find him!" Bethany cried, hugging Nny tightly and sobbing into his chest. "I need your help!"

"What can _I_ do?" he asked, squirming away from her and letting her fall to the ground. He glanced quickly at what she was wearing and winced, backing up even further. _Yellow and orange? Why?_

"You... You have a car! I think I left him at the park and I promised Todd I'd get him back soon! It's a fifteen minute walk, and besides, I can't look by myself!" She looked up at him, tears streaming openly down her face. "Please Nny? For Todd?"

He was confused as to why he should help 'Todd', before he remembered that that was Squee's real name.

"Fine, for Squee." He grumbled, grabbing his car keys off the kitchen counter. Bethany clambered up shakily, smiling at Nny weakly, thanks written all over her face. "But you have to stop calling me Nny."

"What should I call you then?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

_She looks like a goddamn dog when she does that. Well, she would if she didn't look so much like an eagle..._ He looked at her nose and felt his own, happy to note that his was fairly less beak-like than hers.

"Call me Johnny." He grabbed his warmest coat (although that wasn't saying much) and stormed out the door, followed quickly by Bethany, who stumbled slightly and slammed heavily into the car.

"Oh god, I'm sorry!" she rushed, not wanting a repeat of the whole near-death-experience episode.

Instead Johnny just rolled his eyes, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the car.

"I'm leaving with or without you, you know." He stated calmly, putting the car into reverse and pressing on the gas softly. He heard her squeak and jump into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut and buckling up, all in less than five seconds.

"You know, I really appreciate this, Squee- I mean Todd- will be so happy that you helped find Shmee. He just thinks you're a scary guy who likes to kill people for fun." She babbled, glancing nervously at Johnny as she said the last part, as if waiting for him to deny this.

He just stared right ahead, running through several red red lights at a speed Bethany didn't know existed and ran through the park fence, jerking the wheel and applying the brake at the same time, making the car turn around so he didn't have to walk around anything when he got out.

Bethany scrambled out of the car, shivering in the night air.

"Okay, we were over there," she said, pointing towards the swings, "so that's where we should probably start looking."

Johnny nodded and headed towards the swings, hands shoved deep into his pockets and humming along to a song only he seemed to know.

_Hah, how long has it been since I've been in a park with a boy?_ Bethany smiled to herself, following Johnny at a distance. _Six years? Seven? Never thought that the next time would be to look for a kid's stuffed bear, and that the guy would be a raving lunatic..._

"Hey! Whoever you are, I think I found it!"

"Bethany." She corrected automatically, jerking out of her thoughts. "And where?"

"That dog's eating it." He said nonchalantly, pointing at a coyote chewing on something.

"Th-that's not a dog Johnny...." she stammered, backing up a bit. "We should probably go now; we could just buy a new Shmee."

"WHAT? After dragging me out of my house? No! We're going to get _this_ Shmee!" Johnny snapped, advancing towards the wild animal. It looked up and growled at Johnny, warning him not to come any closer. But, he just ignored this obvious threat and walked even closer, leaning down and grabbing Shmee with ease.

"See? Simple." He shrugged, turning back to face Bethany, whose heart was just beginning to beat at a normal pace again before the coyote jumped on Johnny's back, grabbing on to the arm that held Shmee.

"_**Nny!**_" she screamed, her heart going crazy and her vision fading in and out. She saw blood everywhere and didn't know whose it was, and never got a chance to find out because it was at that moment that her knees buckled and she fainted, hitting the ground heavily before closing her eyes completely and drifting into a blissful unconsciousness.

TBC

(... please review, I hate asking, but I really want to know what people think about this... If I need any improvements and whatnot ^^)


	6. WHY

(**A/N**

Erm yeah, this chapter is kinda random, and no, you won't really find out how Johnny's doing until the next chapter... But you know that either he was well enough to walk off, or in a worse enough condition to be dragged off without a huge fight ^^ But yes, this chapter is again, mainly filler and totally just made up of a series of brain farts, so please don't be mean ;^; This chapter was never supposed to exist actually, so the story will continue on-track next chapter)

Bethany woke up alone and cold, with Shmee dumped gracelessly on the ground next to her, already drawing interest from a few other stray dogs.

"SHOO! Get the hell away!" she yelled, jumping up and waving her arms before picking Shmee up and beginning the long walk home, glaring at any random passersby, too pissed off at Johnny to even think straight.

_What the hell does he- seriously! I mean, - just... THERE! And- URGH! Hate him! Diiiiiiiiie!_

She began strangling poor Shmee, hitting him against her head multiple times.

_Where the hell does he get off just leaving me there?_

She spun around quickly and kicked the window of the shop next to her, smiling nervously as it shattered and an alarm went off. As people started congregating around the window she decided it'd be best to leave quickly, in case anyone tried to point her out to the police. She looked back nervously and saw a small boy pointing at her, talking to what looked like the store's owner.

_Oh crapping Hell! _She set off running, not knowing if she was being chased or not, but keeping a firm grip on Shmee, almost laughing at how shitty it would be if she were to drop him now. _Just keep running, just keep running..._ She began to slow down, her breath coming in painful gasps, her knees screaming bloody murder. She had always hated running, and she was never any good at it, and found no reason to do it after she dropped gym in High Skool. She stopped entirely, leaning against a random house and glancing back. Yes, she was being chased... By a small group of people.

_Come on! It was only a window!_ She almost felt like crying, but forced herself to keep running, her throat dry and painful, and her feet constantly tripping over one another. She made it another block before collapsing in front of yet another house and deciding to stay here until they caught her.

_I can deal with them, no problem..._

She rolled over, possibly to curl into the foetal position, but something familiar caught her eye. A house with crappily boarded up windows.

_Johnny's house! I made it home!_ She crawled over to the next house over, laboriously opening the front door and inching inside. As she heard the people get closer she stood up shakily and jogged up into Todd's room, grabbing him out of his bed and bringing him back downstairs.

"Now, I got Shmee for you Hun." She rushed, trying not to pass out. "But there are some people at the door that Bethany doesn't want to deal with, kay? So if you could just get rid of them that'd be great." She smiled, putting him at the front door and getting ready to open it.

"H-how?" he asked worriedly, yawning widely.

"Just like that." She opened the door, making sure to stay hidden behind it, but far out enough to see what was happening.

"He-hello?" Todd mumbled, rubbing his eyes and yawning again before looking up at everyone with wide eyes and clutching the newly regained Shmee.

"Awww! Look at him and his cute little _face_!"

"I wanna hug him!"

"I feel like going to hug puppies now!"

As everybody left to go hug puppies or possibly molest themselves (if there were any real creepers in the crowd) Bethany shut the door and smiled tiredly at Todd.

"You can go back to bed now Hun, you did great, thanks a lo –" Todd watched nervously as his nanny fell face first onto the carpet, too tired to even crawl into her room.

_So, you finally remembered me huh?_

"Shmee, I'm so sorry I forgot you!" Todd cried, hugging Shmee close and climbing back up the stairs. "I never will again!"

_Sure kid; sure._

***

_So much... pain._

"Bethany?"

"Yeah Hun?" she sighed, walking slowly around in the kitchen, trying to remember where the cereal was.

"Are you okay?"

She felt like screaming that she wasn't okay, and listing exactly _why_ she wasn't okay, all due to that goddamned bear in his hands, but she managed to hold her tongue, smiling almost creepily at him.

"Course, I'm perfectly fine! Never better! Why do you ask?"

"N-no reason..."

_She's lying to you. You know she is._

Todd chose to ignore this comment, instead just placed Shmee on the table and began to search for the cereal with Bethany, his little stomach rumbling with hunger.

"Here, cereal." She smiled tiredly, placing a salad bowl filled to the brim with cereal on the table and steering Todd into place in front of it.

"I-I don't think I can eat all this!" he squeaked, standing on his chair in order to be able to look down into the bowl.

"If you can't finish it we'll just dump the cereal out and put the milk out for cats or something tonight."

Todd nodded but didn't say anything, shoving large amounts of the sugary cereal into his mouth quickly, trying to eat as much as possible. He didn't register the fact that Bethany was tapping her fingers in an agitated way, glancing at the clock nervously. As soon as he finished she grabbed the bowl out from in front of him and shooed him upstairs.

"Okay, now brush your teeth and make your bed and we'll leave for school in ten minutes, kay?"

"But –"

"No buts!" she interrupted, shoving him gently into the bathroom.

"_But there's no school!_" Todd cried, jumping out of the bathroom.

"... What?"

"It's the Christmas holidays!"

"_Christmas?_" she raised her eyebrow, looking at him suspiciously.

"Yeah, it's in four days."

"But... Wouldn't there be decorations?" she asked her arm gesturing helplessly, her eyebrow dropping back down next to its partner, her arm gesturing wildly at the barren walls.

"Mommy and Daddy never decorate the house." Todd stated flatly, making to clutch at Shmee but remembering that he was left on the kitchen table. "SQUEEEEE!"

Bethany had never known any nine year old that could move that fast, and was frankly glad that he was well-behaved enough so she didn't have to go chasing after him. She'd have lost him on the first day.

She jumped down the stairs after him, messing up the landing and falling straight on her knees.

"Fuuuuuuuuck" she hissed, pushing herself up so she was sitting on the stairs, trying not to put weight on her knees just yet, not wanting to add to the pain. Besides, if she leant back far enough she could see into the kitchen and watch over Todd.

***

"I'm so sorry Shmee!"

_Save it kid, you obviously don't like me anymore..._

"I do! I need you Shmee!" the little boy sobbed, clutching at his teddy bear.

_No you don't, you never even listen to me. And now you're leaving me all over the place while you go gallivanting off with that bitch of a babysitter._

"Nanny." Todd automatically corrected.

_Come on, you __**have**__ to know that she's just a glorified babysitter. I guess that'd make you the baby..._

"Shmee!" Todd squeaked, looking highly affronted at the bear's words. "That wasn't very nice!"

_I don't have to be __**nice **__anymore; you're not going to be needing me soon._

"What? I'll always need you!"

_Right, sure kid, whatever you say. Maybe it'd just be easier for us to say goodbye now..._

"NO!" Todd shrieked, shaking Shmee roughly. "Don't leave me! I need you! Don't go!"

He stood there in the kitchen, waiting anxiously for the bear's reply, his eyes filling with tears and his short nails digging into the soft fabric, each second that went by making a reply less and less likely, each tick of the clock on the wall like a dagger though Todd's heart.

"Shmee?" he whispered, placing the bear on the kitchen table, only just noticing how dirty the bear really was. "Why did you leave me?"

"What's wrong Hun?" Bethany had finally mustered enough courage to stand on her knees and eventually discovered that the pain wasn't that bad, now it was just her elbow that hurt from whacking it on the stairs after she fell the first time she tried to stand up.

"Shmee's gone." He whispered, running up to her and burying his face in her stomach. She wrapped her arms around him and murmured empty comforts to him, knowing what he was going through but not being able to do a thing about it.

TBC...

Please review ^^


	7. That Sinking Feeling

(**A/N**

Poor Todd ;^; I feel bad for him, despite his sulkiness... And this was originally supposed to be longer, but then I saw it was at least double what I usually post (in the one thousand words) so I figured I'd break it into two parts)

"Hun? Your parents just left for dinner and a movie. They left some money, you feel like going out?" Bethany asked softly, poking her head though Todd's door, distinctly worried about him. He had been up there all day and screamed if she tried to come in, but other than that making no noise at all.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He sulked, hopping off his bed and crumpling the papers he had been writing on and tossing them into the garbage.

She bit her lip gently, worried about the little boy's behaviour.

"Are you okay Hun?"

"Yes! Now just drop it!" Todd snapped, storming past her and stamping down the stairs, slamming the door on his way out.

"If you say so." She sighed, following the little boy out the door, but leading him next door as opposed to in the other direction; towards the town.

Maybe she had been waiting for a reaction, fear in his big eyes to show that he was still the same old Todd, but no; he just stood there glaring at everything and everyone, even the little puppy across the street. But her whole reason for coming wasn't to see if she could scare Todd, she actually just wanted to know if she could borrow Johnny's car in order for them to drive.

"Johnny?" she called, knocking loudly on the old wood. "You home?"

"Well I am now." Said a voice from behind them both, Bethany squeaked a little and turned around, but Todd just stayed glaring at the puppy across the street that was now freaking out and foaming at the mouth. "I just got in."

Bethany decided that it might be better for her general health not to mention how much he looked like crap, cuts all over his arms and face, his clothes in shreds, blood everywhere and she noticed a slight limp as he walked towards them.

"Are you okay Hun?" she asked instead, hoping he didn't notice the term of endearment; although the slight frown he gave her indicated that he did.

"No I'm not okay." He snapped, pushing past them into his house. "I got mauled by a fucking dog –"

"— Coyote." Bethany corrected automatically.

"Whatever. I got mauled by a coyote, and then got accused of drugging you, so then I had to find the strength to drag those two piles of filth back here and brutally murder them."

"You could have just left them." Todd snapped, taking his off the dog finally, who now lay twitching on the street. "You didn't _have_ to kill them! It's your own goddamned fault you're in a pissy mood so just shut the hell up!"

"Todd! Language!" Bethany chastised, shocked at what had come out of the sweet little boy's mouth.

But by this time he had stopped talking, choosing instead to glower at Johnny's door. The owner of said door however, chose to grab Bethany painfully by the arm and drag her to the edge of his property and start hissing at her.

"What the hell did you do to Squee?"

"You know, we need a name for him that we both can use, it must get confusing being called by two names." Bethany thought aloud.

"You're not answering my question!" Johnny snapped, shaking her and digging his nails in deeper into her skin.

"You should probably get your nails cut soon; they're pretty long right now." She whimpered, cowering under Johnny's glare.

"ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION!"

"Shmee left." She whispered, stepping back and breaking the now limp hold Johnny had on her.

"That bear? The one from last night?" There was a shocked expression on his face, and when he looked at Todd his face was twisted into what seemed like sympathy. "Would he like one of my dough-men?"

"I'm sure not." Bethany replied firmly, having no clue as to which dough-men Johnny was talking about, but sure that if it was Johnny's then it was probably not suitable for a nine year old. "But I was wondering if we could borrow your car, we're going to McMeaties and it's a pretty long walk for a nine year old with stubby legs and a girl who hasn't done gym since ninth grade."

"Why don't you get your own car?" he grumbled, handing over his keys.

"Hey, just because you get kicked out of university does _not_ mean they forget about your student loans." She grinned, walking back to his door to grab Todd. "I'm flat broke. But thanks anyway Johnny, we really appreciate it."

He glared at Bethany as she got into his car, strapping Todd in as he seemed to be refusing to move by himself. The smile plastered across her face was a sad, forced smile and for a second, he almost felt bad for her. Almost.

All of his sympathy had evaporated the second she reversed his car into the garage.

_Crap, forgot to ask if she can even drive..._

***

"So Todd, how's your meatshake?" Bethany asked, her face aching from the fake smile plastered across her face. "And your meatymeal?"

"Tastes like meat." He grunted, poking at his burger in distaste.

"Good, cause it's made out of napkins..." she laughed, enjoying the spreading look of horror on the little boy's face. _I'm a horrible person_. "I'm totally kidding! Don't worry, it's 100%... Not napkins. I actually have no idea what kind of meat it is." She herself took up Todd's now abandoned pastime of poking her burger, looking suspiciously at the meat inside. "Could be human for all I know. Never took a meat-recognising course. Although they did offer it at the university."

She looked up hopefully, not knowing what she wanted to see; a smile, a sneer, maybe even him giving her the finger, anything but the blank stare that proved that he wasn't all there.

"Oh crap..." she squeaked, slouching in her seat until her forehead was level with the table. She was vaguely aware that Todd didn't even mention it, just took a small bite of his burger, suspicion written all over his little face.

The reason for this odd behaviour was standing right outside the window, currently picking on a lone Johnny with a group of his friends. As she peeked out from under the table she saw Johnny stiffen and reach for his boots, where he kept most of his knives.

"Hey Todd, if anything happens, just yell loudly and I'll come back, okay?" she rushed, standing up and heading towards the door, nothing but a slight nod to show that Todd had even heard her, although she wouldn't have noticed even if he didn't, she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts, all of which scattered as soon as the cold air hit her as she walked outside. She has forgotten how cold it could get in December.

"Adam?"

The man by the name of Adam spun around quickly, trying to locate the sound of the familiar voice, his eyes passing over Bethany three times before he finally realised that it had been the blue haired girl who had spoken and his face cracked into a grin.

"Good to see ya babe, come to join us for a little bit of fag-bashing?" he asked, putting his arm around her. "I have to admit, I was afraid that you were serious about breaking up, and that whole 'getting your stuff' stunt really scared me for a while. But I knew you couldn't stay away, you never can, can you?" She shuddered as his rough fingers brushed against her cheek and his foul alcoholic breath ran across her face.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, me and the guys figured we'd hang—" Adam began, his arm slipping down to her waist.

"I wasn't talking to _you_." She interrupted, side stepping neatly out of his reach. "I was talking to _Johnny_."

"Johnny?" he asked blankly, his arm falling back down to his side. "Who's Johnny?"

"This is Johnny." She said, striding over towards Johnny and glaring at him. "And he shouldn't be here."

"I guess it was true." Adam whispered, cracking his knuckles.

"What? What's true?" Bethany snapped, turning around at the oh-so-familiar sound of cracking knuckles.

"That you were cheating on me. Although I never figured you'd go for such a faggot."

"_Take that back!_" she shrieked, stepping towards him threateningly. Unfortunately as she was a good half-foot shorter than him and pretty much a twig, the effect was less than scary.

"Or what? You're going to hurt me?" he laughed, closing the gap between the two of them and running his hands through her hair. "I thought you'd know by now, you can't hurt me."

"Oh, I know _I_ can't..." she said, cocking her head to the side and inexplicably grinning. "But _he_ can."

"Wha?" his expression turned into one of puzzlement until he looked over Bethany's head and saw all of his friends being brutally murdered by Johnny.

"You have to admit he's very creative with the knives." She remarked airily, examining one of the victims. "This one barely looks like it used to be human."

"H-he... What the FUCK?" he cried, staring at the mangled remains of his friends. "Dude, now I have to find new friends!"

"T_hat's_ what's bothering you?" she asked, surprise, disgust and contempt in her voice.

"Well yeah, they were all fags anyway."

"Bethany... I'm being kidnapped."

She span around, looking into the restaurant to locate the sound of the distinctly bored voice.

"Goddamn, why does he have to be so adorable?" She hissed, clenching and unclenching her fists before spinning around to face both Johnny and Adam. "Well, this was fun, we should so it again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go help Todd out of a minor problematic situation."

She stepped to the side in order to get to the door without having to climb over a dead body, but Adam seemed to think it was appropriate to block her way, allowing Todd to be dragged even further away.

"Adam." She growled warningly, her eyes screaming at him to move.

"I want you back baby." He crooned, stroking her face.

"Not _now_." She hissed, attempting to push him out of the way. "Actually,_ never_ again, I'm sick of you and your shit."

"Now, come on..."

"ADAM I DON'T HAVE _TIME_ FOR THIS! JOHNNY! Where are you?" she screamed, spinning around angrily, before almost falling over when she ended up face to face with Johnny himself.

"Yes?"

"Todd's in trouble." She pleaded, somehow managing to tell him what needed to be done without saying anything about it. He nodded curtly and promptly stabbed Adam's neck over Bethany's head, who winced as a torrent of blood hit the back of her head. She tried to choke out a thank you but figured that her food might have a better chance of remaining in her stomach if she kept her mouth closed, so instead she just ran into the restaurant, looking around wildly for Todd.

"I'm over here by the register Bethany." She heard, and indeed he was. Apparently him being alone at a table was not considered safe, and so an employee brought him over to the registers during his shift.

"Thanks so much!" Bethany gushed, indescribably happy that not only was Todd safe, but that the man at the cash insisted on paying for their meals.

"You've had a rough night." He murmured sympathetically, his face showing that he saw what had happened outside through the window.

"Yeah, ex boyfriends can be a bitch." She laughed, trying to clean the blood out of her hair with a pile of napkins he had given to her. So far she had gone through twenty and the blood just seemed to be spreading.

"And so can jealous boyfriends." He noted, nodding towards the window where Johnny stood, watching them intently.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend. We're just neighbours."

"Oh." He smiled, a twinkle in his eye. "So he wouldn't mind if I asked you out some time?"

"No, I don't think he would." She grinned back, grabbing a pen out of her bag. "And I have to say, I'd like that a lot. Here's my cell, and Todd's home number, which could pretty much be my work number I guess." She laughed, writing the numbers down on a clean napkin.

"Oh, so he's not yours?" Despite being so kind towards Todd, he seemed genuinely relieved to hear that he wasn't hers.

"No, I'm just his Nanny."

"Oh, that's sweet." He smiled. "I thought the days of Nanny's were long gone."

"So did I for a while." She laughed. "But then somebody from the city came to tell me that this little boy's parents were ordered to hire a Nanny, and apparently I'm the only one in the city, if you can believe that."

"Actually I can." He said slightly sadly. "Nobody really cares about the children enough anymore to make taking care of them their job."

"Yeah, that's true." She mourned, remembering how all her classmates from childcare classes dropped out to pursue 'proper' professions.

"But, if there's even one person out there, maybe the old fashioned values aren't yet completely dead."

"Maybe." She smiled, grabbing Todd and leaving, noting that Johnny had left, and if the knife sticking out of the side of the building was any indication, he was in a foul mood.

TBC :)

Please Review ^^ (okay, I shall now ask a question... There is a certain little information tidbit about the titles that I want to know if anyone can find ;) I will say what the relation is in the lastest chapter, though I'm sure most of you will know by the second next chapter. So, can anyone find it? If so, you get a cyber-cookie! :D)


	8. All You Wanted

(**A/N**

Don't worry, I promised no official pairing and there won't be. This chapter was originally going to be a lot longer, but I wanted it finished and I had to go to bed. Also originally meant to be part of the previous chapter, but that would have made it too long. I hate this chapter)

_Hey mom, how've you been? Well, I've settled into the new job, and it's really great! I get a room and free food, and Todd's amazing. Although he's having some troubles lately, but there's not much I can do about that. But the man who lives next door is pretty scary, and probably insane. But I think by now you probably realise that that means I think I'm in love with him... Although I might have a date with this guy who works at McMeaties. But how're things back home? I really miss all you guys, and say hi to dad for me! Well, I've gotta go, there's someone at my window. Bye mom, love you! _

_Bethany_

She sighed and pulled a heavy box from under her bed, opening the lid and dropping the sheet in before pushing it all back under her bed. Truthfully, she wrote to her mother often, but she never sent any letters, it was more like a diary than anything else, but she never wanted anything that seemed so girly. She hopped over to the window and unlocked it, surprised when she saw Johnny clamber through.

"Why didn't you just use the door?" she asked.

"I never do, windows are easier."

"If you say so. But anyway, Todd's already asleep, so you can probably head back now." She said, kind of nervous about having him see her room. But instead of leaving he walked around, examining the orange and yellow walls, a soft smirk playing on his lips as he saw all the Hawaiian leis hanging everywhere, and the fairy lights hanging down from her ceiling. She just prayed he wouldn't notice the stuffed bear collection.

"What do you want?" she demanded, trying to draw his attention from the bible she was currently using as a coaster for a glass of lemonade.

"You're religious?" he asked, picking the bible up and ignoring her question. She winced as he put the lemonade on the dresser, thinking about the ring that would soon be there.

"No, but both my parents were preachers, so I figured that I should bring a bible with me when I moved. I grew up with it, don't believe anything inside it, but it's a reminder of childhood."

He nodded as if he understood what she was saying entirely, although he didn't seem like the kind of person who really cared about reminders of childhood.

"What about you?" she asked, trying to break the awkward silence. "What did your parents do?"

"Can't remember. Can't remember anything past three years ago, when I became like this." He said simply, spreading his arms as emphasis.

"That's... Sad." She replied, just as simply.

"Why? Who really needs memories and parents, family and friends? You don't need anyone, and they don't need you." He hissed, his voice getting louder.

"Shush! Todd's still sleeping! If you want this conversation to continue we have to leave."

"Brainfreezie?"

"Err, no. My head's fine thanks." She said, wondering why he was being weird all of a sudden.

"No, do you want a brainfreezie?"

"What's that?" she asked.

He froze suddenly, dropping the lamp he had been examining.

"WHAT?" He shouted, eyes flying open and grabbing her by the arm.

"Johnny shut _up_!" she hissed, trying to tear her arm away from him.

"You're having a brainfreezie now." He demanded, pulling her towards the window.

"Johnny, I really don't- JOHNNY!" Her life seemed to flash before her eyes as he pushed her out of the window and she landed heavily in a bush underneath her window. "Owwwww, that's going to hurt in the morning."

She stood up carefully, checking for broken bones or open cuts. She barely jumped when Johnny landed silently next to her, still standing on both his feet, almost mocking her for falling in the bush. So she threw caution to the wind and pushed him over before stepping over him and heading towards the town.

"Wrong way." He called after her, his voice eerily calm, despite having just been pushed over.

"What?"

"Yeah, it's the other way."

"... Really?" she asked, staring at him suspiciously.

"I swear on my mother's grave." He said solemnly, to which Bethany laughed in his face.

"You don't even remember her, that doesn't mean much." She giggled, aware that at any second he could- and probably will- kill her.

"You're right." He grinned, standing up gracefully and smiling at her. She wasn't quite sure if it was a homicidal smile or a friendly smile but she decided to keep her distance all the same.

***

"So what's so great about these?" Bethany asked, watching him pull the lever and the red slush come out.

"They're the best." He insisted, handing her a cup.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"You're paying for it yourself you know." He said simply, walking over to the counter to pay for his own.

"We'll see about that." She smirked, looking over at a man who had just walked in. Johnny looked over in interest as she approached the magazine rack at the same time the man did, and reached for the same magazine as him. After a long-ish conversation, lots of laughing and showing of various pictures Bethany at last came over to the counter to pay, and so Johnny stepped away, keeping two feet away from her.

"That'll be Two Seventy Three." The cashier droned, eyeing Bethany's chest.

"Okay, no problem!" she gushed, her voice higher than usual. She searched through the pockets in her pyjama pants and took out a couple of coins. "Oh, it's not enough!" she murmured disappointedly.

She span around when she felt a hand on her arm as the man from the magazine rack walked up to the counter and pushed her to the side, taking out his wallet.

"Don't worry, I'll pay." He said kindly.

"What? No no no, I can't let you do that!" she cried, trying to push away the hand with the wallet.

"Please, it'll be my pleasure." He insisted, taking out a five dollar bill.

"Oh my gosh, thank you _so_ much!" she cried, flinging her arms around him and hugging the man tightly.

"It's only a brainfreezie." He muttered, his face red.

Bethany simply beamed at him, her face almost glowing.

"But I hope to see you at the Bird Watching Committee Meeting next month!" he grinned, waving bye to her as she and Johnny walked out the door.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" she called back, waving flirtatiously back at him. "Goodbye!"

As the door shut her smile was gone, replaced by a look of mild amusement mixed with disgust.

"Bird watching? Like I'd waste my time doing that." She scoffed, taking a sip of the cherry brainfreezie in her hand.

"I must admit, you work fast." Johnny noted, glancing sideways at her. "I see your charm makes up for some of your physical faults."

"_Excuse_ me?" She demanded, stopping immediately and glaring daggers at him. "Physical _faults_?"

"Yes, like your nose, for example." He replied airily, not noticing her sudden wave of fury. "It's very beak-like."

"Well I will tell you that it didn't always look like this, I just have a habit of picking bad boyfriends." She snapped, continuing on the walk with Johnny.

"What do you mean?" he inquired, his voice a little less than friendly.

"Adam. And Stan, and Joshua, and Art, and Jim, and Lucas..." she listed, mixed emotions flickering across her face. "And a bunch of other people. They all seemed to want to take a crack at me, and they tended to focus on my nose. Those heal easier than arms or legs I've heard."

"Wait, so all your ex-boyfriends abused you?"

"Hah, yeah. It's kinda weird isn't it, a girl grows up with the best possible family life, but the second she moves out and starts dating she becomes a punching bag." She laughed bitterly.

"Best possible family life?"

"Look, if I'm going to talk, I wanna sit down." She pouted, plopping onto a bench at a bus stop. Johnny raised an eyebrow but stayed standing, leaning against a lamppost. He stood there watching Bethany until she finally remembered that she was supposed to be talking.

"Okay, so I already told you my parents were both preachers, right? Well, they never forced me to believe in God or anything, they said that once I was ready to accept him, he'd be right there waiting for me. But that's not the point. They always let me do anything I wanted, as long as it didn't involve me getting _too_ hurt, so they were never too restrictive. They let me date whenever, as long as I showed them the boy I was going out with and provided all the phone numbers and stuff. They've always accepted me for who I am, so when I told them I was Bi they cried and hugged me and told me they were so happy I had the courage to admit it to them. But my friends didn't take it so well, so for the second half of grade twelve I had no friends, and I was totally shunned until Graduation, so I got the hell out of Texas—"

"—Wait, you're from Texas?" he interrupted, frowning slightly.

"Nice, you interrupt after I say I'm from Texas, not after I say I'm Bi. Interesting." She laughed. "But yeah, I am."

"You don't really _sound_ Texan."

"That's cause I left when I was seventeen, I was moved up a grade so I was a year younger than everyone else when I graduated. Actually I was sixteen, but I only left at seventeen. But anyway, I left Texas to go to University here- actually it's just down the road from here- and then I made some new friends. But I didn't exactly fit in with them either, because they all came from horrible family lives, so I felt I needed to make something up, so I told them I was mentally abused and disowned by my family. So every night I prayed to a God I don't even think exists that my parents would never come visit me. I cut all ties with them and I haven't spoken to them in six years. Then I got kicked out of University for cheating on a test and failing biology so I came here." She finished, taking a long slurp of her brainfreezie. "You know, there _are_ pretty good!"

She looked up to look at Johnny but didn't see him at the lamppost anymore.

"Goddamn it Johnny, why the hell do you always walk away? I'm telling you my life story and you don't even pay _attention_... Fucking jerk." she muttered angrily, digging her nails into the wooden bench.

"I _am_ paying attention." Came a soft voice from beside her. She jumped and looked over, and saw that Johnny had just moved to sit beside her.

"Oh." She blushed. "Sorry about that then."

"Oh no, its okay, it's interesting to hear what you say about me when I'm not here." He said it lightly but his eyes glinted eerily.

"Well, I don't generally say that." She muttered, suddenly aware how close he was. _I only __**think**__ it._ She started giggling strangely, oddly amused by her thoughts.

"Are you okay?" Johnny asked awkwardly, not sure what to do with himself, not generally being around laughing people.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded once the giggling subsided. "I should probably get back, Todd can somehow seem to sense when I've been out without him."

"Squeegee."

"Excuse me?"

"You said earlier that we should have a name that both of us could call him without him being confused. Squeegee."

"I think it's cute." She beamed, sliding slightly closer to Johnny, who tensed up.

"Bethany?"He asked, sliding away from her.

"Yes Johnny?" She purred, closing the gap between them so their hips were touching.

"Wh-what are you doing?" he asked, sounding genuinely nervous.

"What I've wanted to do since I met you." She whispered, closing her eyes and pressing her lips against his, feeling a sudden rush in the pit of her stomach.

She was suddenly aware that he seemed to be kissing back, although his body stayed tense, so she ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him in closer, and she almost fainted when he put his arms around her waist. She tried hard not to smile, but for the first time in a long time she felt like where she was meant to be, in the arms of someone she loved. Well, liked a lot.

Although every single one of these feelings disappeared as a white hot stabbing pain shot through her back, traveling through her entire body and causing a wet substance to soak her shirt. Johnny leant back, looking disgusted and wiping his knife clean of the blood. She vaguely wondered whose blood it was until she realised it was hers.

"Sorry." She muttered again, aware that if she had any blood left to spare she'd be blushing. But, as it was, all her blood was currently leaking out of her back.

"I should go to the hospital now, shouldn't I?" she asked, surprised at how small and shaky her voice was. Instead of answering Johnny just stood up and left her there, tossing his knife into the garbage as he passed. _Guess he __doesn't__ like me._ She tried to stand up, but started to black out so she sat back down heavily, mild hysteria spreading in her mind, the fear of dying taking over. She looked up and saw a bus stopping on front of her, so she braved standing up in order to speak with the bus driver.

"Hello, does this bus go to the Hospital?" she asked weakly, trying to put pressure on the wound in her back, but giving up after her elbow started hurting.

"Yessireedoo." He grinned, pulling her onboard. "Do you have money?"

"Yeah." She replied, dumping the coins she had in her pockets into the collection box.

"Good girl." He grinned, pushing her along down the aisle. She groaned as she walked into a pole and fell over, causing everyone on the bus to point and laugh at her. _It's been a long day._ She thought, right before she passed out.

TBC

Please review, I'd really appreciate it :)


	9. Courage

**A/N**

**Sorry for the long wait! I just got really distracted by a bunch of other stuff... And I'm sorry for how much this chapter sucks, but bear with me, it was really hard to write this :( I'm going through a writer's block... Hopefully the next chapter will be better and will be up sooner.**

*******

"Hey, can you help me please?"

Bethany looked at the man in front of her in the line for the emergency room.

"How?" she asked, her voice scratchy.

"Press this lever down." He said, lifting up on hand, which seemed to be stuck inside a toaster. "Once it's done then maybe my hand will pop out. But try to set it to the lowest heat level please."

"Of course," Bethany smiled, turning the dial until it was at its highest and pressing the lever down forcefully. "Because I really give a shit about your problems." She smirked at him as he started screaming and running around, moving up in the line to take his place. Eventually his hand popped out of the toaster, and everyone winced as they saw its crispy blackness. He glared at Bethany as he went up to the desk to complain and demand to be treated.

"I'm sorry, sir, you'll have to take a new number and head to the back of the line." The receptionist droned, filing her nails carelessly.

"What?" he asked incredulously. "But I already _had_ a number!"

"That was for toaster hand, not for burns." She snapped, handing him a new number. "Now get to the back of the line number nine hundred and twenty three."

Bethany watched him walk all the way to the back of the line, clutching his smouldering hand. She felt a pang of guilt for a moment, but brushed it off as pain from the stab wound which- she thought in disgust- seemed to be congealing on her shirt.

***

Five agonising hours later Bethany appeared on Todd's doorstep, still in her bloody shirt, but with a Band-Aid covering the hole in her back. She was still incredibly pissed at Johnny, after being forced to wait four and a half hours for a doctor, and then having to wait another half hour until the doctors decided to slap on a Band-Aid and send her home. She glanced next door at his house, and was filled with a strange form of loathing.

"JOHNNY WHATEVER-THE-HELL-YOU-LAST-NAME-IS!" she screamed suddenly, storming over to the run down bungalow. "GET YOUR PATHETIC FACE OUT HERE!"

The door opened slowly, revealing a blood-soaked Johnny with a human head in his hands. Bethany chose to ignore the urge to vomit and instead zeroed in on Johnny's slightly bewildered face.

"HOW DARE YOU STAB ME? IF YOU DON'T LIKE ME JUST SAY SO! DON'T FUCKING STAB ME IN THE BACK LIKE THAT!" she screamed, her dark blue hair flying into her deranged eyes, giving her the look of an escaped lunatic. She carried on screaming, letting out every minor annoyance in her mind, somehow blaming everything that went wrong in her life on the man in front of her.

"AND THEN MY PARENTS NEVER BOUGHT ME THE FUCKING PUPPY AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" she cried, panting heavily and blinking back tears.

Johnny nodded like he understood and gracefully slammed the door in her face.

Bethany stood there in shock, not quite registering what happened. She turned around stiffly and walked back to Todd's house, aware that now she probably had good reason to fear for her well being. Johnny probably wouldn't kill her, oh no, she was the best chance he had at keeping Todd happy; but he would never let her be anymore.

But suddenly, inexplicably, she smiled. She had always loved a challenge, and Johnny was proving to be a good one.

***

"Todd! Honey, have you seen my other shoe?" Bethany asked, waving around a black stiletto. It had been two nights since the 'incident' (as she liked to refer to it as) and nothing really bad had happened yet. _Maybe I misjudged him; maybe he's not that petty..._ She thought, but she didn't believe it for a second.

Although tonight she couldn't afford anything to go wrong; she had a date with the server from McMeaties and he was taking her out to a nice restaurant, so she had to crush any worries she had earlier.

She began to get worried when she didn't hear an answer from Todd (although that wasn't much of a surprise, he still refused to talk much) and so she knocked lightly on his door. She was surprised and more than a little scared when it swung open easily; he had kept it locked since Shmee 'left'.

She gasped when she saw the bed sheets on the floor, the desk overturned, and the bookcase leaning halfway out of the broken window. Everywhere she looked she saw destruction and the signs of a struggle, but the one thing she was looking for she couldn't find.

"Todd?" she whispered, shivering as a cold wind breezed through the broken window and hit her bare shoulder.

"Squee?" Her voice was little more than silent now; she couldn't even hear it herself. All of a sudden the telephone rang, causing her to jump and spin around quickly, her heart beating fast and her eyes watering dangerously.

"He-hello?" she whispered into the phone, afraid of whom it might be.

"Bethany." Came a strained voice on the other end. She recognised the voice of the man who was taking her out to dinner tonight. _Although,_ she noted in surprise, _I have no idea what his name is._

"Who is this?" she asked innocently, trying to get his name without seeming like an idiot.

"Michael."

"Oh right, I'm really looking forward to our date tonight." She gushed, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she glanced back into Todd's empty room. She cursed silently as tears rolled down her face, smudging the makeup she had so carefully applied earlier.

"W-well, about that... I-I can't make it." He stammered, sounding terrified, his voice strained and shaking. "And I don't want you to ever come near me again."

"Michael, what—?" she began, clutching the phone tightly.

"_Please_, just don't." He was begging her, and she could hear he was terrified, and for the first time she heard a low voice in the background, perhaps telling him what say. "Just stay away from me, I h-hate you." But now it was obvious he was crying on the other end, and Bethany hung up, not caring that it probably seemed rude. She had never considered herself as a great people-lover, but she couldn't not do anything after hearing his voice. She grabbed her trainers and a long coat and ran outside, and headed towards where she knew he lived, hoping against hope that when she got there she wouldn't be too late.


	10. Bad Luck

**Grrrr, it's annoyingly hard to drag myself to my computer to write this, sorry for the slow updates…**

*******

Three hours later Bethany was back at home, trying (and failing) to fall asleep, the images of that evening flashing through her mind, unsettling her stomach to no end.

_"Michael? Michael are you okay?" she asked as she tried to open the door, surprised and immensely worried when it opened easily. "... Michael?"_

_She looked down at the floor, just noticing the rose petals on the floor leading towards a room; presumably the bedroom. She smiled softly and shook her head, thinking that the entire phone call had just been a plan to get her there._

_"If you think I'm going to sleep with you you've got another thing coming." She said, more to herself than anyone else, but heading towards the room nevertheless._

_Just as her hand was on the doorknob she noticed a bottle of champagne on a table in the kitchen and she went to grab it along with two glasses, not noticing the bloodstains on the counter next to it. She turned the doorknob somehow and pushed the door open to reveal the dark room, the only light coming from a couple of candles. She frowned; in one of the candle's light there was a hand, but across the room she saw a foot._

_Bethany's heart stopped, and then started pounding faster than ever. She didn't want to, she knew she shouldn't, but she flicked the light switch on anyway, ignoring all her instincts to run. The scene she saw before her made her want to throw up, or faint, or maybe even both. _

_Michael had been chopped up into tiny pieces, each one no bigger than his foot, which lay festering in the corner. As she looked around she didn't even want to think about where the other one went. She dropped the champagne and the glasses and ran to the bathroom, emptying her stomach of all that was left inside it. She stood up slowly and leant against his cold tiled wall, trying to stop shaking enough to focus on her surroundings. What sounded like a siren was blaring in the streets and footsteps were coming up the stairs._

_Bethany froze, realising what it all meant, and realised that she needed to leave or risk being charged for murder. For the first time in her life she thanked that burning hot teapot that burnt off her fingerprints as she thought back on everything she had touched. She ran back into the bedroom, ignoring the wet champagne mark and the countless bloodstains that dyed the beige rug a dark red. She almost ignored the shadowy figure in the corner until it grabbed her hand just as she undid the window._

_"Squee is your only priority." It had hissed, before stepping into the light to reveal itself as Johnny._

_"You- You did this?" she gasped, trying to pull away from his bony grip. He just smiled in response, tightening his grip until her gasp of surprise turned into a gasp of pain. "Let __**go**__!" she yelled, wrenching her hand free from his surprisingly strong hand._

_"Squee." He murmured before drifting back into the shadows and disappearing, leaving Bethany alone with her foot out the window as the police burst into the room._

She was frankly surprised they had let her go, they had just taken her to the station, issued her a warning without even listening to her story that she had organised during the ride and let her go, waving her off with murmurs of 'we've seen worse, honey'.

Of course, it irked her that they called her honey, but she wasn't about to go pick a fight with them after they let her go so easily. When she had gotten back to the house Todd was sitting on his bed, his room just the way it was before (except for the planks of wood nailed across his broken window). After checking on him and tucking him into bed, she had spent the rest of her time staring blankly at the infomercials on TV.

***

As soon as Bethany had finally drifted off into a restless sleep there was a knock at the door, followed by repeated ringing of the doorbell, which- in her barely conscious state- sounded like a gong hit directly next to her ear.

She stumbled down the stairs, relying on her memory of the house's layout rather than her sight and opened the door, blinking in the light from the streetlamps.

"Who're you?" she yawned, stretching her arms high above her head.

"Does Nny live here?" the stranger asked bluntly, not answering Bethany's question.

"Who're you?" she repeated, glaring sleepily at the stranger.

"Does Nny live here?" he asked again.

"Who're you?"

"Does Nny live here?"

"Who're you?" By this time they had settled into a steady rhythm, the effortless conversation lulling Bethany back to sleep. That is, until the sharp knife pressed against her throat woke her up instantly.

"Why can't you guys give me a break?" she whined, shrinking back until she was out of the knife's reach. "No, Nny doesn't live here, he lives next door. But you shouldn't go there now, he's in a bad mood and it's late. Try going tomorrow."

She began to shut the door but stopped when she saw the young man properly for the first time. He was dressed exactly like Johnny, but looked like an 'improved' version of Johnny, black hair instead of blue, and paler skin; the only thing wrong was his expression, he looked lost, and nervous.

"Would you like to stay here for the night?" she asked, inserting a kindness into her voice that she didn't feel. She hated strangers mooching off of others hospitality, but this kid just looked pathetic, he couldn't even find his own style and had to copy somebody else's.

"Sure." He grinned, suddenly all deranged smiles before hopping into the living room and onto the couch, flipping on the TV."Urgh, infomercials, those things suck."

Bethany grit her teeth and smiled at him, finally allowing an expression of bitterness to cross her face.

_Why the hell do I put up with all these insane jackasses?_

***

Three hours later Bethany crawled out of bed to wake up Todd and the intruder in the living room. At least, he had still been in the living room when she finally realised that by shoving her face deep into a pillow she could sort of block out the noise from the TV and fall asleep.

"Todd?" she yawned, pushing the door to his room open, shivering as the cold December air breezed between the planks of wood on hi window. "Time to get up."

So immersed in her task of waking up the tiny little boy that she didn't even notice the she was being watched by a pair of curious eyes.

"Why don't you let him sleep in?"

Bethany screamed- which woke Todd up effectively- and spun around, looking for the owner of the voice.

"You!" she cried, pointing at the stranger. In the light his acne was painfully obvious, and the dark rings under his eyes from not sleeping were garishly visible against his pale skin.

"Jimmy." He said, looking up from his place on the floor and dropping the two army men he held in his hands.

"What?"

"My name's Jimmy, but you can call me Mmy."

"I can call you you?

"No, Mmy, like Nny, but with M's."

"Oh." She nodded, before shaking her head and getting mad again. "What the hell are you doing in Todd's room?"

"Oh, I was watching him sleep." He replied simply, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Do you have any idea how _creepy_ that is?" she gasped, bringing the squirming Todd closer to her. "His parents would _kill_ me if they found I let a person like_ you_ in his room to watch him sleep!"

Jimmy stiffened when she said 'a person like you' and reached for his knives.

"Okay seriously, stop with the knives." Bethany sighed, releasing her hold on the squirming Todd and slumping against the wall. "You know what I mean; people are just naturally not going to trust you with their children because of the way you dress."

"I dress like Nny!"

"Exactly! Nobody trusts him, nobody even _likes_ him!"

"I like him." Jimmy pouted.

"No, you have an unhealthy obsession with him, that's different."

"HOW DARE YOU TELL ME IF I LIKE SOMEONE!" Jimmy screamed, his eyes glinting with a homicidal mania.

"Sorry." Bethany sighed, sinking down until she was sitting on the floor a few feet away from Jimmy. "Just… Leave now. Leave. Johnny lives next door at 777, go bother him."

She closed her eyes and leant her head against the wall, waiting for the door to shut and to be left alone in peace and quiet. Well, as alone as you can be with a little boy in the room, but since he didn't seem to do anything anymore, he didn't really count.

_He needs a dog or a friend or something…_ she thought, then vaguely wondering why the door wasn't shutting. She opened her eyes and came face to face with Jimmy, who grinned and kissed her. She tried to jerk back but only managed to hit her head. She pushed him off and slapped him, trying to look as dignified as possible in her pyjamas while sitting on the floor surrounded by discarded army men.

"Who do you think you are?" she demanded, rage building in her voice. "And who do you think _I_ am? I'm not some hussy you can just—,"

"Hussy?" he laughed. "How old are you, eighty? And for one thing, respectable young women don't wear stuff like _that_."

He laughed once more before leaving the room, leaving Bethany fuming with a slight blush on her cheeks, regretting her decision to wear her rather skimpy pyjamas instead of the flannel ones that lay festering in her drawer.

"Come on Todd, we need to get some food in you." She sighed, getting up after she heard the door slam. "But first I need to change…"


	11. Energy Drinks, Candy and Caffeine

**A/N: (recycling my old one...)**

**OMG, I am SO sorry everyone for the wait! I've been super busy with school and stuff, and I've had some personal problems (and a huge case of writers block) and I've been distracted by my own original story that this has been put on the back burner! I'm really sorry and I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner! And honestly, I hate this chapter.**

**But the story's almost finished guys! Just a few more chapters, five at the very most. Probably less than that though.**

*******

**_Okay, I redid this chapter, because I hated the other with a firey passion. I almost printed out and burnt it, but that'd be a waste of time. I'm still not too happy with chapter, but it's better than the other I guess. Also, believe it or not, the Bethany in the beginning of this chapter (after energy drinks, sugar and caffeine pills) is me after one bottle of flavoured water. It's the Splenda... But anyway, enjoy! :)_**

"Okay Todd, my darlingest darling, what should we do today?" Bethany asked, bounding into Todd's room the second he finished tying his shoes. Without even waiting for an answer she continued, "Don't care! _Well_, I have the most brilliantest idea in the history of idea-like thoughts!"

She bounced around his room, knocking over most of his things and playing with everything from his lampshade to the door handle.

"Want to know what it is?" she beamed, acting as if she hadn't just messed up his previously clean room. He shook his head slowly, feeling as if she were draining out his energy and using it for herself. All he wanted to do was _sleep_...

"No-no-no!" she screeched as he leant backwards, eyes closed. "No sleeping for you! We're going... _Shopping_!"

"Shopping?"

"Yes silly-billy-willy-dilly-dally!" she cried, grinning manically at him. At this particular moment she was scaring him almost as much as the scary neighbour man. "Shopping! For Christmas and such!"

"Christmas shopping?" he repeated, sure he had heard wrong.

"Yes! You need cheering up; Christy-mass is the holiday of cheer and such! It's perfect! You'll get presents and be happy, and I'll get presents and be happy! Oh how happy we will be!"

Todd sunk back into his pillows, not wanting to go anywhere with this crazy woman who had seemingly replaced his nanny.

"Now get!" she cried, grabbing his arm and fairly throwing him out of the door. "We need to pick up some more energy drinks, candy and caffeine pills; we're all out for some strange reason."

***

"Oh, the mall is such a fantabulous place, is it not?" Bethany sighed, clasping her hands to her chest and spinning around dreamily, seemingly having forgotten about the little boy at her side. "Oooh, _shoes_!" she cried, grabbing Todd roughly by the arm and dragging him towards the store. "I've been looking forever for this one pair, I saw them in a magazine once, so awesome, and I _need_ them! Do you hear me? NEED!"

Todd merely sighed; she was getting on his nerves, although she seemed a lot calmer than she had been in his room. He trudged along behind her as she gushed over all the shoes, before finally settling on one pair that she immediately paid for, choosing an overly large bag as opposed to the standard size.

"Come on Toddy, something for you now!" she trilled, grabbing a hold of his head and plopping him into the giant bag alongside the strappy orange heels. "Where to? Toy store? Or do you want your own heels?"

"Home?" he asked, not daring to get his hopes up.

"Home Retailers! Perfect, we'll get you a new bed!" she laughed manically, running towards the store. "I've got your parents credit card after all!" She laughed some more as she ran, the adrenaline in her blood system allowing her to run for much longer than she usually would have been able to. That is, until she stopped suddenly, staring at a man clad all in black.

"Johnny?" she muttered, more to herself than Todd, but he heard her anyway, taking this as his cue to hide in the bag until the scary neighbour man was gone.

"JOHNNY! JOHNNY-JOHNNY-JOHNNY-JOHNNY!" Bethany screeched, jumping up and down, attracting the attention of most shoppers, but not the one she was aiming for.

Todd wasn't even aware of movement, but soon he was being examined by Johnny, Bethany's cries of 'shoes!' audible in the distance. All he could see was the scary neighbour man's face peering down at him, a frown on his face.

"Why do you have him in a bag?" he demanded, stopping her in the middle of her unheard rant about her new shoes.

"Huh? Who? Who's in a bag? Where?" she asked, looking around by her feet for any stray children in bags.

"Squee!" Johnny clarified, shaking the bag and causing aforementioned boy to roll around on the shoes uncomfortably.

"Oh, him." She said dismissively. "He likes it in there, don't ya' Todd? Of course he does."

"He didn't even answer you!"

"We have a psychic connection. Not something _you'd _ever be able to understand, you've never had a connection with anyone, have you?"

"There's no such thing as a psychic connection."

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too if you've had enough sugar and caffeine to broaden your mind!"

"You're just high!"

"You're just jealous."

"I'd kill you now if it weren't for Squee."

"Well go find somebody _else _to kill then, because I'm leaving anyway, Todd and I are going bed shopping!"

"Why does he need a new bed?"

"It's _Christmas_, you're not supposed to get stuff you _need_!"

"That's just stupid!"

"_You're_ stupid!" Bethany finally screeched, storming away towards the Home Retailers fuming.

***

Three beds and a coffee machine later Todd and Bethany sat on a bench in the mall, licking ice cream and discussing the merits of buying a bigger house to fit all the beds. Bethany had finally calmed down enough after buying the third bed and now they were having a perfectly respectable conversation, and Todd was much more outgoing (although that still wasn't saying much) towards her, even gracing her with a small smile when she said that his parents could stay at the current house while they went off and lived in the new one.

"I mean, it's not like they're there that much anyway, I think they ran away. And even when they do come home, they stay locked up in the master bedroom or the study. You wouldn't miss them, and they probably wouldn't miss you."

"They would so miss me!" he protested, indignant on his parents' behalf.

"Oh I'm sure you're right," she smiled, pulling the boy into a one armed hug, "it's impossible not to miss you when you're not here!"

"Thanks." He mumbled, clutching the box of Lego's he got, worrying about whether or not his parents _would_ miss him if he left.

"Hey, cheer up kid!" Bethany grinned. "It's almost Christmas, don't look so suicidal."

"Suicide?" he squeaked, fear entering his eyes at the very thought of the word.

"Never mind, let's get you home." She smiled, picking up their multiple bags (most of which were filled with presents for Todd- bought when he was picking out his Lego's) and leading him out of the mall, nodding to the security guard at the door and smiling politely at Johnny, who ignored her as he continued to brutally murder a woman in a fur coat outside the doors of the mall.

Everything felt right.


	12. White Christmas

Hello all... This wait has been inexcusable, I know, and I give my heartfelt apologies, I've simply been busy... Doing what, you ask? I am becoming popular. I realise that telling many of you this will turn you against me (this seems to be a very anti-popularity fandom) but it's the truth; I am working my way up the social ladder through a mixture of connections and badmouthing some of my friends. Well truthfully, I'm simply voicing the thoughts in my head to the right people. But I'm getting there (thankfully) and hopefully during the summer my friend (who is very popular) shall invite me somewhere with the other popular people, seeing as I do get along with them quite well, and they have told her they do like me. Feel free to hate me if you wish, I'm just giving you another reason, because I feel like I deserve your hate and disgust for how long this thing took to get out. The next chapter will be up sooner, I promise.

But in other news, the story is almost done. Enjoy :)

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The days to Christmas melted away and soon enough Bethany woke to a bright and clear morning with chirping birdsong. So obviously she threw a shoe out of the window to shut those godforsaken birds up before rolling out of bed and shuffling over to Todd's room. She smiled at the decorations around the house; they had spent the day before hanging garlands and fairy lights around the windows and doors, and strung holly from the ceiling before putting up a fairly small pine tree in the living room. They had had a blast decorating it with gold tinsel and brand-new ornaments (for some reason Bethany couldn't find any in the house). They had baked cookies and even brought some over to Nny, who accepted them cautiously while the screams of dying people rang out in the background.

She opened the door to Todd's room cautiously and peered in, smiling as she saw the brand-new stocking she had bought for him during their last (disastrous) trip to the mall stuffed full of little odds and ends she thought would please the child. She leant against the doorway for a few moments longer, contentedly watching the boy sleep, feeling maternal feelings stirring in her chest—just _how_ this boy's parents had not adored him she would never know. She sighed and walked over to the young child, gently shaking his shoulder to wake him.

"Come on Todd, its Christmas!" she said happily, smiling brightly at him as he cracked his eyes open.

"It's five in the morning." He mumbled, burrowing underneath his covers.

"But you have presents downstairs waiting for you." She coaxed, tugging the covers down.

Instead of bolting out of bed like most young children Bethany knew, Todd just blinked sleepily at her. "Presents?"

"Yes, you know, unknown objects wrapped in festive paper?"

"I have presents?" Todd asked warily, hope shining in his eyes.

"Of course you do sweetie!" Bethany smiled, fighting back the wave of hatred towards Todd's parents that threatened to overwhelm her. He smiled at her hugely, a smile filled with all the childlike innocence she had believed to have been stripped from him years ago and she immediately forgot her anger as her heart melted at the sight in front of her.

"Come on hun, we'll go open presents after breakfast, kay?" she smiled, offering her hand to the boy. He took it gladly and they walked down the stairs and went into the kitchen, still homely with the lingering scent of cinnamon and baking. She bustled around the room making pancakes for the two of them, humming all the Christmas carols she could think of as she baked.

"Do you want chocolate chip or blueberry?" she questioned, looking through the pantry she restocked earlier in the week.

"Chocolate chip!" Todd said loudly, before slapping his hands over his mouth and looking at her warily. "Sorry," he whispered, "chocolate chip."

"Don't worry sweetie, it's Christmas, you're _supposed to be loud!_" she explained, demonstrating this fact by yelling. He giggled warily and glanced at the staircase in fear.

Bethany sighed unhappily and abandoned her pancakes in favour of hugging the boy. "Look darlin', I don't know anything about your home life before I came, but sweetie, you're better off without those two jerk offs upstairs, okay? You're a great kid—the best I've ever known—and don't let nobody tell you different!"

He nodded mutely, and began silently twiddling his thumbs when she finally released him. She sighed imperceptibly and went back to the pancakes, pouring in the chocolate chips, the comforting air that had permeated through the kitchen now stilted and cold.

When the pancakes were done, Bethany placed them in front of Todd and sat down with him to eat, attempting to break the awkward silence.

"So, what do you think Santa brought you this year?" she asked cheerfully.

"Santa doesn't exist," said Todd disinterestedly, his mouth full of pancake, "he's just a lie to get children to be good."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," she said automatically, "and why do you say that? I thought most children your age believed in Santa."

"Well when your parents tell you he doesn't exist it's hard to believe he does."

"That's horrid!" Bethany exclaimed in horror.

"No it's not!" Todd defended. "They just don't want me to believe in something that isn't true!"

"But that's the whole point of childhood!" Bethany cried, close to tears. "And taking that away from you… They _robbed_ you of that, can't you see?"

"My parents love me," Todd said quietly, staring at his pancakes, "and they just want the best for me."

"But—"

"May I be done? I'm not hungry anymore." Said Todd in that same quiet tone.

"Yeah, you can go hun. Go and get washed up and we can open presents when you're done." She said quietly in a voice to match Todd's; silently heartbroken.

"Thank you." He climbed the stars slowly, each heavy thud of his feet like a dagger in Bethany's heart, hating herself for causing that heaviness of his heart.

"You should learn to leave well enough alone, you idiot girl," she muttered angrily to herself, getting started on the dishes and ignoring her untouched pancakes, "stupid, stupid, _stupid_."

An hour later when the dishes were all done and all the food was put away and Todd _still_ hadn't come back downstairs, she headed up to his bedroom to see what was taking him so long. The sight she was met with when she pushed open his door broke what remained of her heart into a thousand shattered pieces.

Todd lay curled up on his bed, clutching the voiceless Shmee to his chest and was just staring brokenly at the wall, his eyes red from crying but now just empty and dead. She felt a sob catch in her throat and had to quietly close the door before she alerted him to her presence.

She ran quickly to the kitchen, fighting back tears every step of the way until she couldn't take it anymore, collapsing onto the kitchen table and sobbing brokenly, ashamed and guilty for causing such pain to the child she had tried to protect from just the thing she had inflicted upon him. Her chest hurt and her throat ached and she had a blinding headache but she was sure it wasn't enough punishment for breaking such an already broken boy. She sat there crying for what seemed an age before the doorbell rang shrilly, jerking her out of her self-hatred. Slowly she shuffled over to the front door, sniffling loudly and wiping her nose on her sleeve. She opened the door warily, bloodshot eyes immediately recognizing the figure on the doorstep.

"Oh, hello Johnny," she attempted to say cheerfully, "Merry Christmas."

"Where's Squee?" he frowned.

"Oh he's just upstairs… Sleeping, he's been really tired lately so I thought I'd give him a little bit of a lie-in." she lied, hoping he couldn't see through her.

"Oh, okay then." He said, and if Bethany wasn't so oblivious currently she would notice how oddly he was acting, even for him.

"Well if that's all…" she said, making to close the door.

"Wait!" he said quickly, putting his foot in the door so she couldn't close it.

"What is it?" said Bethany snappishly.

"I, well… I have presents!" he blurted out, his face contorted as if in pain.

"You… have presents?"

"Yes." He nodded, once again looking as if the very admission of it hurt him physically.

"Well, come in and put them under the tree then." She smiled thinly, opening the door wider.

"… Okay." He said warily, reaching behind him to pick up an unfortunately bloodstained box and an envelope.

"Wait," she said sternly, barring the door and preventing him from getting in, "what's in the box?"

"Nothing bad, it's for Squeegee." He said, seemingly offended that he could even be associated with the word 'bad'. Of course, that was the moment the box decided to whine and shake, leading to a heated glare courtesy of Bethany.

"All right, I'll tell you what it is," Johnny sulked, sounding a lot more like a moody teenager than the adult he supposedly was, "it's a Shmee-replacement."

"A Shmee-replacement." She repeated dubiously.

"Yeah, it belonged to this guy I had to kill."

"And why did you have to kill this guy?"

"He was talking during my movie!"

"So you kill him?"

"Yes, well that and I needed his dog."

"Why?"

"For a Shmee-replacement!" he said in a tone that very clearly said _keep up!_

"Oh… _oh!_ You bought Todd a puppy!" she cried happily, wondering if now things would be better with him. Johnny nodded solemnly, and Bethany quickly wrapped her arms around him, her relief that maybe she hadn't messed up everything with Todd overwhelming her memories of what happened the last time she was this close to him. She let him go almost immediately though, opting to simply beam at him instead.

"You're a good man, Johnny. A little misguided maybe, but your heart's in the right place." She smiled, ushering him into the house.

"I can't stay, I have things to do!" he whined as he was forcefully pushed into the living room and into an overstuffed armchair in front of the empty fireplace.

"You'll stay, and you'll wish Todd a Merry Christmas like a _good_ scary neighbor man." She told him firmly, taking his presents and putting them under the tree before shoving a plate of cookies and a glass of eggnog into his empty hands.

"I _am_ a good scary neighbor man." He muttered sulkily.

"Then prove it." She challenged, staring right into his eyes despite the fluttering in her stomach that now was more from fear than any sort of sexual attraction. Light footsteps alerted her to the presence of Todd at the doorway, freshly washed and dressed, only a slight red puffiness around his eyes to show he'd been crying.

"I'm ready Bethany." He said in a small voice, opting to ignore Johnny for the time being.

"Well come on in," she smiled, taking him by the hand and leading him inside, "Merry Christmas Todd."

"Merry Christmas."


End file.
